Regulating apparatus



March 26, 1946. wf H. SMITH REGULATING APPARATUS Original Filed May 20,1942 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 26, 1946 REGULATNG PPRTUS Walter H. Smith,Wilkinsburg, Ta., assigner to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, EastPittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsyivania Original application May20, 1942, Serial No.

443,689. now Patent No. 2,340,994, dated February 8, 1944. Divided andthis application May 7, 1943, Serial No. 486,009

7 Claims.

This invention relates to regulating apparatus for constant speedmachines, engines, and/or other motor means particularly to regulatingapparatus for maintaining the operating characteristics of such machinesconstant.

This application is a division of my application led May 20, 1942,Serial No. 443,689, entitled Regulating apparatus, issued as Patent No.2,340,994 on February 8, 1944.

In the operation of Diesel electric locomotives for example, it isnecessary to provide for load regulation to prevent overloading of theDiesel engine. Many types of load regulating apparatus have beenprovided heretofore but they have had certain disadvantages. Thediierent types of known load regulating apparatus are complicated andhave large moving parts thereby necessitating more space for mountingthe regulating apparatus and greatly adding to the cost of theinstallation. Another disadvantage of the known types of regulators isthat hunting is encountered whereby the control is not sucientlysensitive to meet given conditions.

An object of this invention is to provide for operating machines, motormeans or engines at substantially maximum capacity and constant speed.

motor means, to maintain the operation of such engines, or motor means,at substantially maximum capacity and substantially constant speed.

It is also an object of my invention to provide speed governorcontrolled valve means for controlling the flow of fluid from a sourceof fluid pressure to further control means for controlling the operationof a machine.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation and partly in section of controlapparatus employed in this invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation and partly in section of anotherembodiment of part of the control apparatus employed in this invention;and

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the regulating apparatus of thisinvention.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawing, a preferred embodiment of theregulating apparatus is illustrated applied to a Diesel engine IB. TheDiesel engine ID is of the usual type having hand or power operatedthrottles (not shown) for controlling the operation of the engine and ahydraulic speed governor l2 for preventing over-loading of the engine,as will be explained more fully hereinafter. The details of thehydraulic governor l2 are not illustrated as they are well known, theeasing of such hydraulic governors including a pump for supplyinglubricant under pressure to a point in the system where required.

A generator I4 provided with an armature winding I6 and a field windingI8 is driven by the Diesel engine l0. The armature windings le are `32and an adjustable field rheostat 34 to be energized from a suitablesource of power, such as the battery 36. The carbon pile resistor 32 andthe operating mechanism therefor are better shown ln Fig. 1.

In this application I do not limit my claims to the particular schemeshown in Fig. 3 or the use of the carbon pile resistor 32. The resistor32 represents any kind of machine the operation of which is to becontrolled. For instance the elements 42 and 60, discussed more indetail hereinafter, may represent the brush shifting mechanisms of aseries motor used to propel a torpedo. In this connection attention iscalled to my copending application led July 23, 1943, Serial No.496,415, and entitled Torpedo controls.

The resistor 32 may be of any of the well known types and in thisembodiment is illustrated as comprising a stack of carbon discs 38slidably mounted on an insulated rod 40 between pressure discs 42 and44. the assembly being mounted between support members 46 and 48.Although only one stack of discs 38 is visible in the drawing, usuallytwo or more stacks connected in series circuit relation are utilized andare so mounted on insulated rods 40 associated therewith that anequalized pressure can be' applied simultaneously to each stack, Theends of the rod 40 of each of the stacks are slidably mounted in thesupport members 46 and 48. A spring member 50, disposed between support46 and the nut and washer arrangement 5ll' on the left end of the rod40, is provided for normally biasing the rod 40 to the left withreference to supports 46 and 48.

A pressure applying lever 52 is pivotally carried by an anchor stud 54which is secured to a lug 56 carried by the support member 46. Apressure spring 53 is positioned between the lug 6G and the lever 52 fornormally biasing the lever E32 to apply pressure to the cross bar @Elwhere more than one stack is employed, or directly to the end cap of thepressure disc i2 to compress the stack of discs. Carbon pile resistorsof this general type are disclosed and claimed in my Patent No.2,276,069, issued March l0, 1942, and assigned to the assignee of thisinvention.

ln order to alter the pressure on the stack of discs 38, a control valvemember 62, an auxiliary control valve member 6d and a power pistonmember 66 are provided for so cooperating in response to a decrease inthe speed of the engine i8 as to apply an intermittent change or"pressure to the end of the lever 52 in opposition to the pressure of thespring 58.

The control valve member 6i? is disposed to be mounted on the casing ofthe hydraulic governor i 2 and comprises a sleeve member having a gpiston valve member 'I8 slidably disposed therein. The piston valvemember 16 is formed of the valve ,'52 intermediate of the closuremembers lll and i6, which cooperate therewith. in forming two chambersi8 and 86. rlhe stein 62 of the piston valve member 'i6 extends throughan oil gland 84 at the lower end of the casing member 66 and terminatesin a position where it is disposed to be engaged by the actuating leverof the hydraulicgovernor i2- in a predetermined manner. The upper end ofthe casing member 66 is closed by means of the threaded cap member 63forming a reservoir with the end of the piston valve member 10, a springmember S36 being disposed between the end cap member 88 and the upperend of the piston valve member 'i6 for normally biasing the piston valvemember downwardly in the casing member. As illustrated, a passage 92 isprovided extending from the end of the piston valve member in thereservoir and terminating in the opening 84 which communicates with adrain chamber 96 provided in the lower end of the casing member.. Anopening 68 is also provided in the piston valve member i6 communicatingbetween the chamber it and the passage 82 for draining the lubricantfrom the chamber 'I8 under predetermined conditions. An inlet passage|08 is provided in the casing member 68 and is connected to thehydraulic gover- 'nor I2 for supplying the lubricant to the chamber 88under pressure. An outlet passage or port H62 is also provided in thecasing member 6d for cooperating with the valve l2 for controlling theoutlet of the lubricant from the control valve member 62 or the drainingof the lubricant from the power piston member 66 as will be explainedmore fully hereinafter.

The auxiliary control valve member-6d comprises the casing member ithaving a rotary valve member |66 disposed therein with its stem Hi8extending through an oil gland il@ at the lower end thereof. the rotaryvalve member I86 is disposed to be connected either directly or througha suitable gear chain (not shown) to the crankshaft of the Diesel enginei0, and is operated in accordance with the speed of the engine Il). Asillustrated, the rotary valve member I06 has a passage Il iltherethrough which is disposed to be aligned with the ports in thecasing member IEM for a given position of the rotary valve member H86.The passage II2, however, may be of any form, depending upon thelocation of the ports inl the casing member i84. In addition to being asingle passage li2 as illustrated, a plurality of passages The stemmember Hilti of asevera through the rotary valve member itt may beprovided, depending upon. the number of desired admissions, one or more,of the lubricant through the auxiliary control valve member 64 perrevolution. of the engine iii. As illustrated, the chambers formed in.the casing member above and, below the rotary valve member M6 areconnected by the pipe l It to the drain pipe I I6 from the drain chamber96 of the control valve 62.

The power piston valve member 66 comprises the casing member l i6 havinga sliding power piston i2@ disposed therein with its pistonv rod i2?extending through the oil gland |24 to a position where it abuts thelever 52 to actuate it under predetermined conditions. The other end ofthe casing member IIB is connected by the pipe @26 to the outlet port ofthe auxiliary control valve 6i. As there is some leakage of the oilabout the piston mem-ber 626, a pipe t28 is provided for draining thelubricant from the power piston valve member 66, the drain pipe IE6being connected thereto. This drain pipe H28 provides for returning thelubricant from the operating mechanism to the reservoir of the engineI8.

In operation, assuming that the engine i6 is adjusted for operating at agiven speed to drive the governor i2, and assuming that the eld rheostat34 and the carbon pile resistor 32 have been adjusted to so Venergizethe field winding iii as to cause the generator i4 to generate apredetermined voltage, the switch 28 is manually operated to close thecircuit from the armature winding I6 to the motor 22.

If an excessive load isencountered, such as where a locomotive ispulling a load on a grade, the demand on the generator I4 tends tooverload the engine I0 so that a decrease in the speed of the engineIllfrom the speed which it is desired to maintain results. As the speedof the engine I8 decreases, the governor I2 functions to force the lever86 in a counterclockwise direction to actuate the piston valve member'I8 of the control valve 62 upwardly against the bias of the spring 98.

As the piston valve 'I2 moves upwardly to clear the outlet port formedby the passage I02, the lubricant is delivered under pressure from thechamber 88 to the auxiliary control valve member i Eid, and since therotary valve member I 06 Ithereof is actuated in accordance with thespeed of the engine, the lubricant is delivered by the auxiliary -valvemember 64 to the power piston member 66 in jets, the number and spacingof which depends upon the number of angular positioning or spacingpassages II2 that are provided in the rotary valve member I 86 and alsothe speed of the engine. For a single straight passage II2, asillustrated, in the rotating valve member E66 there will be two passagesof the lubricant to the power piston member 66 per revolution of thevalve member 64. Likewise, with three passages there will be sixadmissions of the lubricant to the power piston member 66 per revolutionof the valve member 64. On the yother hand, if the ports of a singlepassage are at right angles or 90? from one another, then only oneadmission of the lubricant is obtained per revolution of the valvemember 64.

As the lubricant is delivered to the power piston member 66, the pistonI20 is actuated to operate the lever 52 against the bias of the springmember 58 in intermittent steps to decrease the pressure on the stack ofdiscs 38. The piston IE6 of the power piston member 66 moves in smallsteps depending on the number or revolutions 0i the engine crankshaftper minute, and it is evident that there will be no swings and no enginehunting or oscillations because the change in the pressure on the stackof discs 38 is in small increments. This change in the pressure on thestack of discs also varies somewhat, depending upon the speed of theengine, for it is evident that the increments of movement of the powerpiston 20 are a maximum when the engine is operatin/grso as to operatethe control valve 62 in such a manner that the passage |02 has a maximumcommunication with the chamber 80 of the control valve member 62. As thespeed of the engine increases so that the governor I2 operates to permitreturn of the piston valve member I to the position shown in Fig. 1, theoutlet port |02 from the control valve member is gradually closed whileat the same time, the speed of the rotating valve member |06 isincreased to decreasethe amount of lubricant which is permitted to passthrough the passage I I2 to the power piston 66.

` As the pressure is decreased on the pile resistor 32, the resistanceof the resistor 32 is increased to effect a decrease in the eld currentof the exciter 28, and consequently, a decrease in the field current ofthe generator I4. This decrease in the eld current of the generator I4eiects a decrease in the 'voltage generated by the generator to relievethe overload condition on the engine I0. As the engine I0 is brought tothe desired speed, the governor I2 and the lever 86 function to rcleasethe pressure on the piston valve member 'l0 of the control valve wherebythe valve member l0 returns to the position shown in Fig. l.

If the engine |0 drops below full load, the valve member 'I0 of thecontrol valve drops to a position where the valve 'I2 clears the portconnecting with the passage |02 so that the passage |02 thencommunicates with the chamber I8 to deliver the lubricant from the powerpiston through the pipe |26 and the rotating valve member |06 of theauxiliary control valve 64 in increments, depending upon the speed ofthe engine, to the chamber 18 from which it is drained through theopening 98 and passage 92 to the drain chamber 96 of the control valve62, and thence returned through the pipe ||6 to the reservoir of theengine. Such action functions to permit the spring 58 to apply anintermittent increase of pressure on the pile resistor 32 to decreaseits resistance, and consequently increase the excitation of thegenerator 4 to increase the voltage generated thereby.

The same operation is obtained utilizing the valve illustrated in Fig. 2of the drawing. In this embodiment the control valve and auxiliarycontrol valve are combined in a single valve member |30 having a casingmember |32 and a rotating piston member |34 therein. The piston member|34 carries a control valve |36 disposed intermediate of the closuremembers |38 and |40, the

closure member |36 forming a rotating valve member having a passage |42,either straight or angular, or, if required, more than one passagetherein. The end of the rod |44 of the piston member |34 extends throughthe oil seal |46 and terminates adjacent the lever (not shown) of thegovernor to be actuated thereby. The end of the rod |44 also carries asuitable gear |48 disposed to be engaged by a gear drive (not shown) anddriven in accordance with the speed of the engine.

A passage |50 is provided for delivering the lubricant under pressure tothe chamber |64, a port |52 and passage |54 being provided in the casingmember |32 for` delivering the lubri- 'speed of the engine.

cant under pressure to the rotating valve member |38 when the valve |36is actuated upwardly. As illustrated, the ends of the passage |42 in therotating valve member are so enlarged or the entire passage may be solarge that for all operative positions of the valve |36, the passage |42rotates and periodically is in alignment with the passage |54. The otherpassage |56 is disposed to deliver the lubricant as it is passed by therotating valve to the power piston to intermittently operate the powerpiston. A drain passage |58 is connected to the chamber |60 formed abovethe rotating member and in which the spring |6I is positioned forbiasing the piston member against the lever of the governor and chambers|62, |64 and |66 for draining the lubricant from the valve member, thepassage |56 being connected to the pipe |68 to the reservoir of thegovernor. The valve member |30 illustrated functions in the same manneras the more complicated control valve 62 and the auxiliary control valve64 of the, embodiment illustrated in Fig. l, it being noted that as thespeed of the engine increases the piston member |34- of the valve member|30 drops to a position where the lubricant is intermittently returnedfrom the power piston member through the passage |56, rotating passage|42, and passage |54 to the chamber |62 above the valve |36 and fromthence to the drain passage |50. This simplified valve member gives anefiicient regulation.

By means of the regulating apparatus of this invention, it is apparentthat a substantially constant speed is maintained for constant speedengines without overloading the engine regardless of the load demand onthe generator driven by the engine. At all times, the power supplied bythe generator is substantially constant, the

voltage of the generator varying in accordancev with the change in thecurrent demand while the speed of the engine remains substantiallyconstant. Because of the apparatus employed, any change in the load ofthe engine effects an immediate change in the excitation of thegenerator, such change in the excitation being directly proportional tothe change in the load conditions, for as explained hereinbefore, thecontrol valve and the auxiliary control valve cooperate to adjust thepressure on the pile rheostat in increments which vary in accordancewith the This system is very sensitive, it being found that itsoperation is independent of the temperature or grade of the lubricantemployed in the engine.

Although this invention has been described with reference to aparticular embodiment thereof, it is, of course, not to be limitedthereto except insofar as is necessitated by the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a uidpressure cylinder, a source of uid under pressure, and means disposed tocontrol the admission of the uid under pressure to the cylindercomprising a valve housing having an inlet port disposed to be connectedto the source of iiuid and an outlet port disposed to be connected tothe cylinder, and a continuously rotating valve member mounted forsliding movement in an axial direction in the housing. the valve memberhaving a part operative in one position to prevent the flow of fluidbetween the inlet and outlet ports, said part being rendered inoperativeto prevent such ow upon movement thereof from said one position tosecond termittently connect the inlet and outlet ports in response torotation of the' valve member when said first part is in its secondposition to there by cause intermittent delivery oi the iiuid underpressure to the cylinder.

2. In apparatus of the character described, in-

combination, a fluid pressurel cylinder,- a source of fluid underpressure, and means disposed to control the admission of the fluid underpressure to the cylinder comprising valve housing means having a firstport disposed to be connected to the source of fluid pressure and havinga second port for delivering iiuid to the cylinder, and a slide valve inthe housing means disposed for sliding movement with reference to saidports to selectively either connect or disconnect said ports, and meansdisposed between the second port and the cylinder for rendering thedelivery of fluid to the cylinder intermittent comprising a third portinsaid housing means incommunicaton with the second port and a fourth portin the housing means in .communication with said cylinder, and acontinuously rotating valve in the housing means having an openingtherethrough disposed to intermittently connect, through said opening,the third port to the fourth port to effect an intermittent delivery offluid to the cylinder.

3. In valve apparatus, the combination of a valve housing having inletand outlet ports, and a continuously rotating valve member mounted forsliding movement in an axial direction in the housing, the valve memberhaving a part operative in one position to prevent the iiow of uidbetween the inlet and outlet ports, said part when moved to a secondposition being rendered inoperative to prevent such iiow upon movementthereof from said one position in response to slid ing movement of thevalve member, the valve member having a second part disposed between theinlet and outlt ports and having a port therethrough disposed tointermittently connect the inlet and outlet ports in response torotation of the valve member when said iirst part is in its secondposition.

4. In a system of control, in combination, a

machine the speed of operation of which is to be controlled, a source ofhuid pressure, valve means for controlling the speed of said machine.said valve means including a stationary housing and valve members socoupled to a rotating part of said machine to move as a function of thespeed of said machine, said housing and valve vmembers each beingprovided with coacting apertures that are brought into registry upon apredetermined speed change of 'said machine and the time period ofregistry is inversely proportional to the machine speed and the numberof periods being directly proportional to the machine revolutions, andmeans, responsive to the quantity of fluid owing from said source ofiiuid pressure through said valve means, for controlling the operationof said machine. f

5. In a system of control, in combination, a source of fluid pressure,e, hydrostatically balanced valve having a housing provided with aninlet opening and an outlet opening and a valve stem rotatably andslidably disposed in the hous ing, a machine for rotating the valve stemin proportion to the speed of said machine, a governor operated by saidmachine for shifting the valve stem axially with -changes of speed ofthe ma chine, said stem having aperture means and a slide valve portionwhich normally, when the machine speed is at the desired value, blockregistry between the inlet opening and outlet opening, but upon axialshifting of said valve stem by the governor are caused to register thesectional area of registry being a function of the governor operationand the time period of each registry being a function of the rotation ofthe valve stern` by said machine, and means, responsive to the quantityof uid flowing through said valve, for controlling the operation of saidmachine..

6. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a fluidpressure chamber, a source of duid under pressure, and means forcontrolling the ow of fluid from the source of fluid pres`1 sure to saidchamber, said means comprising valve housing means having a rst portdisposed in communication with said source of iiuid pressure and havinga second port for delivering fluid to said pressure chamber, a slidevalve in the housing means disposed for sliding movement with referenceto said ports so as to place said ports in communication as a functionof the magnitude, from zero to a given maximum, of the movement of thevalve with reference to said ports, saidvalve housing means having athird port in communication with the second port and having a fourthport in communication with the pressure chamber, and a rotatable valvedisposed in the valve housing means and provided with an aperturetherethrough for placing the third port in communication with the fourthport to provide for the delivery of the fluid to the pressure chamber inintermittent spurts depending on the speed of rotation of the valve.

7. In apparatus of the type described, the combination of, threechambers containing iiuid under three diierent pressures, valve housingmeans disposed between said chambers, said valve housing meansv havingtwo inlet ports one being in communication with the chamber containingthe fluid under the highest pressure and one being in communication withthe chamber containing the fluid under intermediate pressure and anoutlet port in communication with the chamber containing luid under thelowest pressure, valve means in said valve housing means comprising arotatable valve element and a slide valve element, said slide valveelement having a normal, or neutral, position for blocking intercommunication between said chambers but which upon one direction of movementfrom the neutral position provides a communication between the chamberof highest pressure and intermediate pressure as a function of themagnitude of the movement in the said one direction and which upon amovement in its other direction from the neutral position provides acommunication between the chamber of intermediate pressure and theIchamber of lowest pressure as a function of the magnitude of themovement in the said other direction, said rotatable valve elementhavingaper-

